Skill-Eater: Prison World Saga-Chapter 36: Elite Forces

Now that he had met the members of his dungeon-clearing team, Edge decided to finish touring the various organizations filling the green. It was a rare chance to see the town’s elite forces assembled in the same location and a valuable opportunity to learn more about them.

The treasure hunters were the third smallest group, with roughly double the members of the manslayers and shadowkillers. Their nickname was the lootfinders. They weren’t as powerful or as well-geared as the combat-oriented hunters, but they had more experience with exploring the frontier and operating in dungeons than the other associations combined.

The lootfinders included specialists who dedicated their careers to understanding the logic of dungeon layouts and countering the defenses they typically contained. Their assistance would be invaluable on this mission. Both the treasure hunters and resource hunters were led by a woman named Alice—the only stage-two member of either organization.

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The resource hunters, also known as harvesters, were the largest hunting association. Although they only had a few cored members, they had an important role to play. As their nickname suggested, they focused on identifying and harvesting a wide range of natural resources, and their members wielded a variety of useful skills that were specialized to the task. While items small enough to carry would be granted to the team that found them, discovering large troves would reward a finders’ fee, then be extracted by the resource hunters once the area was pacified.

Some of the harvesters would stay behind after the dungeon was conquered to extract resources from the surrounding biome. They would remain in the region until the last scraps had been transported back to town, procuring materials that would be invaluable for the growth of the settlement.

Last came the beast hunters, the association that Trapper’s crew belonged to. The beast hunters were the only group that didn’t have a nickname. When people used the term hunters, they were usually referring to them. The beast hunters were almost as numerous as the resource hunters, and they were the most powerful hunting association, since Puppet Town’s economy revolved around harvesting and processing beast parts.

While only a fraction of the hunters’ members were cored, they all had experience working in the field and taking down adversaries more powerful than themselves. They were coming along to protect the base camp, keep the expedition supplied with fresh meat, and extract valuable parts from their prey in the process.

Trapper had been nominated to lead them on the expedition after reaching stage two. Edge had no idea what responsibilities her role entailed, but Trapper had been working around the clock to get everything ready in time.

In addition to the peacekeepers and the five hunting associations, there were three more groups coming along for the mission—contingents from the other major factions in town: the alchemists, traders, and crafters.

The alchemists had only sent three members, along with a pair of cored guards whose sole job was to protect them. Despite their numbers, their team was one of the most important components of the expedition. They included Amber—a woman who specialized in the creation of medicines and potions. Next came Derrick, who crafted weapon oils and other offensive consumables.

The final member was Melchior, the senior alchemist who Edge had consulted with the other day. His role was to identify any artifacts the teams found inside the dungeon, supplementing the skillsets of the treasure hunters, who were less mechanically inclined. He was also the leader of their team. When Melchior saw Edge, the alchemist waved. Edge waved back, then turned his attention to the final two groups assembled along the green.

The contingent from the crafters was there to help maintain everyone’s gear. They would also create consumables for broad distribution—the flares, smoke bombs, and flashbangs that had become a core part of Edge’s kit. Their final role was to craft any custom devices that the mission might require, helping the combat teams bypass obstacles, eliminate threats, or tackle other tricky problems.

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When Edge moved closer to get a better view, he spotted a familiar face among them. It was Ander, the smith who had forged his naginata and chakram and helped to craft his new armor. When Edge walked over to say hello, he learned that Ander was in charge of their team. Some of the other crafters he had met at the Forge were there too. He spent a few minutes speaking with the friendly craftsman before inspecting the final group on the field.

The traders’ union had sent a few of their cored guards to help with security, but their main role was to handle transportation and distribution. They were in charge of the wagons that carried the lion’s share of the supplies the mission required, along with transporting those individuals who were poorly-suited for a long march over hostile terrain.

The traders would oversee logistics with assistance from experienced quartermasters like Violet. Once the dungeon was conquered, they would utilize the wagons to transport the spoils back to town and use their skills to preserve anything perishable.

Not long after, Gram stepped onto the podium that Dialla had used the night before and turned to address the crowd. “Hello, everyone. I wanted to thank you again for volunteering for this mission. The results of our expedition may well be the deciding factor between surviving the changes wrought by the anomaly and succumbing to them. I will spend some time with each team on our march south, reviewing your roles along with what little we know about the Savage Garden and the surrounding biome.

“Today, you just need to know where to position yourself for the first leg of our journey, which should take about two days. Once we reach the jungle biome that Setna mentioned in her final report, we will establish our base camp, and I will brief you in full regarding the next phase of the operation. We don’t expect to run into too much trouble while crossing the Ivory Plains. Even with bigger predators of higher stages entering the prairie, few will be willing to pick a fight with so many cored individuals.

“But we’re not taking that for granted. If another colossal stage-two, or gods forbid, a behemoth stage-three beast shows up, they might take a shot at us before we can teach them the error of their ways. I need everyone to keep their eyes open once we leave the settlement. Share anything that doesn’t seem right with your team leader or bring it directly to me. That’s all for now. Follow the vanguard in your assigned order and with any luck, we’ll make it to the dungeon safe and sound, where the real trial will begin.”

When Gram was done speaking, the vanguard rolled out, taking South Street toward the southern gate. The front of the caravan was comprised of trackers, scouts, and elite fighters—people with the skills and Perception to spot problems before they could draw close enough to threaten the wagon train, and enough strength to drive away all but the most dangerous of beasts. Riller and Sasha left with them, although they were only scheduled to work on the front line for the first day of the journey.

It wound up taking the better part of an hour before the last group was ready to leave. When the people in front of him started moving, Edge fell in beside the rest of Trapper’s crew. He began walking alongside the wagon, after giving Blue some scritches behind her horns. As soon as they left the public green and started crossing the districts, he caught sight of the crowd.

Edge had thought that his crew’s sendoff for the padamas hunt had been big. But it was nothing compared to what awaited him as he crossed the south side of town. Thousands of people were lined up along both sides of the road. They were standing on balconies, leaning out of windows, and packed onto the rooftops. Even though they had been at it for an hour already, they didn’t stop waving and cheering, wishing the expedition luck and success on their mission.

With an outing of this size, there hadn’t been any point in keeping their objective a secret. Everyone in Puppet Town knew the hunters were undertaking a dangerous quest that was vital for the future of the settlement.

Edge took in the waving, cheering masses, soaking in their words of encouragement and wishes for a safe return. It made him feel important—like he was a valued member of the community. Something that he had never experienced in his old life on Earth and hadn’t realized he was missing until that moment. A man could get used to this.

Someone had even picked baskets full of flower petals. They were tossing handfuls from atop the ramparts, filling the air with brightly-colored swaths that smelled absolutely divine. Edge stepped through the gate and onto the Ivory Plains with a smile on his face, ready to begin his latest adventure.